nelson] 



FISH NETS 



187 



Fig. 50 — ^Hesh of dip-net made of sinew 

 (about J). 



shown in figure 16, plate lxx. The hoop at the top is a round willow 

 stick, with the beveled ends overlapping and bound together. The 

 handle extends across the hoop and projects four and one-half inches 

 on one side. The net is shallow, made 

 of twisted sinew cord, and is joined to 

 the hoop by a spiral wrapping of sx)ruce 

 root, which passes around the frame and 

 through the bordering meshes. 



The accompanying figure 50 shows the 

 mesh of alarger dip-netfrom Sabotnisky. 

 This net is about thirty inches in diame- 

 ter, is made of twisted sinew cord, and 

 is used for catching various kinds of 

 small fish. A small, strongly made dip- 

 net of willow bark, obtained by Lieuten- 

 ant Stoney from the region back of 

 Kotzebue sound, is shown in figure 10, 

 plate LXX. It is only about fifteen inches in diameter; the meshes are 

 of diamond shape around the border and quadrate on the bottom. 

 The mesh of a large dip-net used for catching salmon and whitefish 

 (figure 51) was obtained from Sabotnisky. It is about six feet in 

 length and the same in diameter, and is made of willow bark. The 



hoop is of spruce wood, with a 

 long, slender handle of the same 

 material, which crosses the hoop. 

 Figure 12, plate lxx, represents 

 a dip-net from Plover bay, Sibe- 

 ria, made of whalebone, which is 

 used for catching small fish in the 

 lakes and streams of that vicinity. 

 The mouth of the net is held 

 open by a stout rim of whalebone. 

 Four strands of the same material 

 are attached at intervals around 

 the rim and fastened together 

 about sixteen inches above it. A 

 heavy granite bowlder, grooved 

 to receive the lashing, is fastened 

 to a whalebone ring in the bottom 

 of the net, which is used by being 

 thrown out into the water and 

 then hauled to the shore by a cord. 

 A herring seine of sinew cord, 

 from St Michael (figure 52), has a number of rounded, subtriangular 

 wooden floats pierced at their small end for attachment to a sealskin 

 cord which runs along the upper edge of the net; to a cord stretched 



Fig. 51— Mesh of dip-net made of willow bark (f). 



